A very good fisherman....

I was in Florida last week on Lemon Bay near Venice Fl. Lemon Bay is just getting over red tide, which is a terrible algae bloom. Many fish were killed along with waterfowl. While looking out over the bay, you could still get a whiff of red tide in the air, smells sort of moldy-ish. Luckily, the fish and waterfowl are starting to come back.    

Amazingly, I came across this Osprey fishing in the bay. Ospreys are magnificent birds that are very good at fishing. This Osprey was circling over head looking for schools of fish. Thank goodness I had my 810 Nikon Camera. In fact, I discovered something about this Osprey that's a little sad......more about that later!   

He must have spotted a nice school of fish, because he dove straight into the water at a high rate of speed. I'm sure the fish didn't know what hit him and was probably knocked out by the impact. 

The osprey was successful. If you look closely, you can see the fish hanging from his talons, the fish is always facing forward.

I watched the Osprey as he struggled to get out of the water with his catch. He finally reach a comfortable altitude, his wing beat slowed and he started to search for a place to have lunch. I followed him, hoping that he would land somewhere near. He did, on top of a light pole not over 50 feet from my location. I took many photos of this wonderful bird having fresh fish. I noticed that he was well equipped at eating fish, talons clamping down on the fish, while that powerful beak was used to rip into the fish flesh.    

It took the Osprey about 30 minutes to finish eating. He flew off as the fish dropped to the ground. Interesting, he headed back to the bay as I watched, wondering what he was doing. He flew low over the bay and dipped his beak and talons into the water a few times. He was obviously, washing up after the meal.    

When I returned from the trip, I reviewed the photos that I had taken. Unfortunately, I discovered a sad injury to the Osprey. If you look, you can see fishing line hanging down from the Osprey's wing, about 12-16 inches long. It appears that a hook has become embedded in his wing. He probably got hung while diving into the water. As I remember, it didn't seem to bother him because I took many photos of this same Osprey over a five day period. He caught fish each day. I could tell it was him by the fishing line hanging down from viewing other photos from different days. Ospreys are very good fishermen....even while being injured. Ospreys are awesome!!! 

I do custom and personalized lake, river, island or bay decor maps. They make a great gift for the lake lover. If you would like to see if we have your body of water, go to LeoLakes.com. 

Custom Lake Maps

Oops, The eagle flew off the map........That can happen with a Leo Lakes Treasured Map! Need a Lake Lover Christmas Gift idea? Why not a beautiful canvas decor map of the lake that they love!  If they own a lake house, lake cottage, or lake cabin, then they are sure to enjoy a nice map of the lake that has the location of their lake house located on the map. 

"Folks are drawn to a Leo Lakes Map like a crackling fire on a cold winter night!" 

My maps make a great Christmas gift for the lake house.  You can add a star to your lake house location. Also, don't forget to look for the hidden mermaid in the waters of your favorite waters!

Check-out these other comments from our customers.

The map arrived right on time and it was a sensational hit.  Thanks so much, this was exactly what I was looking for and was even better than anticipated. Nate

I just received the map, it looks beautiful! Thank you for helping me put together such a spectacular gift and I will definitely keep you in mind for future gift ideas. Have a wonderful Sunday!

Arrived safe and sound this afternoon and looks great!  I can't wait to give it to my parents for xmas for their new lake house.  Thank you!

Paddle over to website to see my Lake, River, and Bay Maps. I have hundreds of maps on my website that can be purchased right from the site, or I can do custom and personalizes vintage style lake maps, too. Lake maps will add beauty to your Lake House Decor! Find out more interesting facts about my treasured maps by going to LeoLakes.com. 

LeoLakes.com

Baitrageous Bait Humor.....

Okay, I went overboard this time on the baitrageous cartoons. This is the most that I have put on the blog all at once. I must admit it, I love bobbers! Anyway, enjoy....

Need a gift for the fisherman? Best gift for the fishermen, and beautiful decor map of his or her favorite place to fish! I have over two hundred lake, river and bay maps on my website that can be purchased right from the site, or I can do custom and personalizes lake, river or bay maps, too. I have maps of Lake Winnipesaukee, Table Rock Lake, Greers Ferry, Lake Lanier, Gaston Lake, Choctawhatchee Bay, Toledo Bend, Raystown, and many others. Oh yeah, I hide a tiny mermaid in the waters of all my maps that folks love to search for. Find out more interesting facts about my treasured maps by going to LeoLakes.com. 

Oh yeah, this is part of my studio!

Bee Attack...

A few years ago, I decided to do a little kayaking on a lake near my home. As normal, I loaded up the kayak on top of my SUV and headed out on a beautiful early spring morning. The SUV hadn't been driven in a few days and when I looked down at the gas gauge, I found that it was almost empty. I made it to the nearby gas station with ease and pulled next to a gas pump. 

Interesting, I did not know that this was going to be a life or death situation. I hopped out of the vehicle that I call Abe. Oh yeah, I name my vehicles.  Why is it named Abe? Well, my daughter named it Abe, after Abraham Lincoln because it's the color of a shiny new penny. I've had seven vehicles in my life, Old Blue, Red, Comanche, Runner, Goldilocks, Sliver Bullet and Abe. Anyway, back to the life and death situation. I slide my card in the card reader and selected the type of gas, while lifting the gas nozzle and opening the gas door on Abe.  

All that I heard was Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzzzzzzzzzzz…… and all of a sudden, big, ugly, yellow jackets were zooming out from behind the gas door. Angry and looking to sting something like me. I quickly realized what was happening. My big problem, I'm highly allergic to bee stings. The only questions that I have, how many stings will I get and can I make it to the hospital before my throat closes? I dropped the gas nozzle and started evasive maneuvers, bobbing and weaving like Muhamad Ali, no rope-a-dope here!

Dang, I made it about 30 feet away with no stings, wasps were flying everywhere. I began to scheme on how in the world am I going to get my vehicle back. I worried about others who might get stung.  

Near by, from behind a rusty old pickup truck, an white haired farmer that resembled Santa Claus sort of, but dressed in overalls, was watching. He looked over at me and smiled, while walking over to my SUV. He approached the gas door and reached in with his bare hand and grabbed the wasp nest tossing it to the ground. Wasps were flying all around him. He stepped on the wasp nest with his boot and started smashing yellow jackets against my SVU. Suddenly, almost all wasps where dead with no one being stung. He waved at me and got in his truck and drove off before I got a chance to thank him. Lucky me, no trip to the hospital and still on schedule for the lake.

Check out my Maps. They can be customized and personalized. I try to make the maps as much "a piece of art" as they are a map. In fact, my large maps (16x32 and over) are numbered and come with a Certificate of Authenticity, which also includes a letter that details some other neat things about the map, such as the 'tiny hidden mermaid." Interestingly, I have sold almost 2000 thousand maps ranging in size from 10in x 20in  to 4ft x 8ft. Believe it or not, I have kept the purchase information (Who, When, Map, etc..) for all those purchases. Check-out my website LeoLakes.com. The best Christmas Gift for the Lake House.

Check-it out Leolakes.com

Lake Decor Maps

Here's a custom lake decor map that I did for a customer in Pennsylvania. This paintings is printed on canvas and is 16x32. For a special touch, I actually hand paint/touch-up the waterfowl and other areas after printing. This makes the print pop when hanging on the wall. Oh Yeah, I hide things in the waters, but more that later. The print shown here is before touch-up.

Cheat Lake is located on the states line between Pennsylvania and West Virginia and it's a fairly small lake. I do all size lakes and shapes. This map turned out great and is now hanging in a lake house overlooking Cheat Lake. I sometimes place a star at the location of the lake house which folks really enjoy. Also, I have had folks request this poem that my wife dreamed up. I place it around the map or insert it in the map somewhere. I love the poem.

"I Love this lake, The most amazing scenes appear in its wake, The sun arises just above the shore, Giving grace and beauty to this place I adore." LKO

What do I hide in the waters of my lake painting? I hide a tiny mermaid/fish in the waters of all my lake map paintings that folks love to search for. I call my maps treasured maps because most folks have that special body of water that they treasure. These maps make great gifts for the lake house owner, lake lover, or fisherman. I have over two hundred on my website that can be purchased right from the site, or I can do custom and personalized lake, river or bay maps, too. If you would like to see more and read about my treasured maps go to LeoLakes.com. 

As you can see, my maps make a great gift. To see more of my work click 

See more at www.LeoLakes.com

The best meal after Kayaking, Halloween Stew....

Not too long ago, my buddy's and I floated the Duck River. You may ask, what is floated? Well around here the technical definition is...to float down the river, in a boat while fishing from one destination to another, float. The crew included Buttermilk (Jeff Loudermilk) and Duck Master (Tim Oldfield). Duck Master knows this river like bananas know yellow. The weather was a typical fall day with the wind blowing lightly and about 60 degrees. Lucky for us, the leaves were just starting to fall from the trees, which was good because we didn't have to worry about leaves getting tangled in our lines. We actually paddled up stream and floated back down.

Here we have Buttermilk giving Duck Master, in his banana boat, a shove off to start the adventure. The water was amazingly clear for this river. Our plan was to fish for about four hours and catch a few bass or anything that would bite and paddle back to camp for a hot bowl of Buttermilk's Pumpkin Stew. More about Pumpkin Stew later! 

Right off the bat, Duck Master catches a small largemouth bass on a silver artificial minnow crank bait. Notice that smile, even catching small fish makes people gitty.   

Duck Master relaxing in his kayak. What a great day to be on the water with friends! As I always say..."Life is short, Get away from the big screen and get on a big stream." If more folks would do this, then there would be a lot more happiness!  

While paddling over to a nice spot to cast, I heard a loud sound. It actually sounded like my neighbor raking leaves at 6:00 am in the morning, next to my bedroom window. I looked up the steep bank and spotted a very chubby animal. It even looks like my neighbor. It was a woodchuck, also known as a groundhog or land-beaver. Luckily he was only foraging in the leaves and not chucking wood. 

Fishing was a little slow, but we did manage to catch a few more small bass. Here comes "Fancy Paddle" also known as Buttermilk. The reason I call him fancy paddle is because his paddles cost more than my Kayak. No kidding, they're a piece of art.   

Well, there is always an adventure on the Duck River and Duck Master found it. While paddling up fairly swift water he turned sideways and the banana boat leaned into the water and capsized. Not only did Duck Master get wet, he has a bruised banana (boat). We did find his fishing pole, bait box, etc... I'm sure glad it wasn't 30 degrees!

Do you feel the warmth? After the Duck Master incident we hurried back to base camp. Checkout our fire! There is nothing like a warm fire on a cool fall day, especially if someone is wet. Notice that large back log. Perfect for radiating the heat, in fact it was so hot I had to rotisserate to keep from getting burned. Stay tuned because we are fixing to eat. I know, you may ask what is fixing? Fixing, a southern term which means "ready to do something."

The perfect end of a fishing trip, Halloween Stew. Before we left, Buttermilk had prepared a pot of Halloween stew, dutch oven style. I asked Buttermilk what is Halloween stew and he said that he carved the carrots like little pumpkins. Hmmm....I'm not sure about that. Anyway, why does food taste better near the water after a full day's adventure?

Amazing, check-out those little carved pumpkin carrots! Hope you enjoyed the post.

Custom Lake Maps

I DON'T ALWAYS DO MAPS, but when I do, they are treasured maps. I just completed this 20x40, custom lake map of Lake Washington located in Minnesota. It's a beautiful lake with lots of wildlife.

Not only are walleyes common, but large and smallmouth bass, crappie, blue gill, and northern pike are too. You will find much wildlife/waterfowl around the lake such as eagles, osprey, cranes, otter, beaver and my favorite, loons. In fact, I added a couple of loons on the map along with fish, and Canadian Geese. Interesting, I always hide a tiny mermaid to the waters of all my lake map paintings that folks love to search for. 

Also, you can add a star to your favorite spot. If you would like to see more and read about my treasured maps go to LeoLakes.com.  We have Lake house maps, and vintage style maps, that make great gifts for the lake house. If we don't have your lake, a custom map can be produced, check us out.

Remember: Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream.

Father daughter tattoo........

I have a secret, I have a tattoo. It's not unlike Fred the Fisherman's tattoo below, but it is different. I do fish, however I didn't get a fishing tattoo. I would describe it as sentimental, an activity done over a long period of time, and it has a twin. Yes a twin. Who would put a tattoo on their face, not me. My new tattoo is actually located on my ankle, however some folks may call them cankles. 

I suppose it's time for the big reveal. My tattoo says 'run." Yes, that's it. Why in the world would I get a tattoo that says "run"? That a great question! I wasn't drunk when I got it. Believe it or not, I have run about 12 miles a week for the last 23 years, but that's not the reason I got this new tattoo. It is all because of my daughter. She started running with me when she was in elementary school. Now, she is almost 23 years old. A few months ago, she got a tattoo because she loves to run and told me that it was all because of me. So, she said that we should consider getting a twin tattoo. 

So I did!

As you can see from this photo, we have twin tattoos. I think it's kind of cool to have twin tattoos. I only wish that I had started her out fishing..........

Paddle over to my studio and check-out my beautiful maps. Add beauty to your lake house! A nice big map of the lake that you live on. Have a large wall, hang a large map! 

Anyway, check-out my lake house lake maps, makes a great gift. Click here, Leolakes.com to see if we have your map. We have many popular lake maps such as the Lake Winnipesaukee, Great Sacandaga Lake, Lewis Smith Lake, Pickwick Lake, Greer's Ferry Lake, Lake Sidney Lanier, Lake Sinclair, Table Rock Lake, and Lake Wallenpaupack for the lake house.  Also, we paint custom maps and have personalized maps for that special someone.